Progress 'difficult' at summit

Posted: Thursday, July 13, 2000

The Associated Press

THURMONT, Md. (AP) - President Clinton labored Wednesday to push Israel and the Palestinians closer to a settlement of their half-century conflict in a summit that was turning out to be as difficult as all sides had feared.

His spokesman refused to say if any progress had been made.

"We went into this knowing it would be a struggle; we have not been disappointed by that," press secretary Joe Lockhart said after the president met again with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

"That's just something that I think will continue from now until we pick up and leave here."

Lockhart used the word "difficult" four times and the word "struggle" three times in six sentences about the talks.

Respecting the news blackout all parties accepted at the start, Lockhart declined to go into any detail about what, if anything, the talks that began Tuesday had achieved.

While the atmosphere of the Camp David summit with Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was described as good, Lockhart spoke in somber terms of the task at hand.

Israeli and Palestinian participants also were observing the code of silence imposed by Clinton.

Clinton tentatively plans to wind up his hands-on mediation July 19. But he also has said there was no "artificial deadline" to the talks.

The president also was expected to leave for part of today, attending the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's convention in Baltimore and a Congressional Medal of Honor ceremony in Washington.

An accord would seal a legacy for him as a peacemaker.

No other foreign policy issue has a higher priority for him in his final six months in office.

Lockhart said Clinton was wrestling with all the central issues. These include Jerusalem's future, claims by 2 million Palestinian refugees to homes in Israel, the status of some 195,000 Jewish residents on West Bank land Arafat claims for the Palestinians and his aspirations for a state.

Barak and Arafat joined Clinton at dinner Tuesday night, dining on beef tenderloin and salmon fillet. Afterward, the president met briefly with Arafat.

Still, Clinton found time to watch the final innings of the All-Star baseball game on television with his daughter, Chelsea, in his comfortable cabin and took his dog, Buddy, for a walk Wednesday before meeting with advisers.

At the same time, Lockhart said, "There are meetings going on, both formal and informal, all over the place. ... There's a certain informality out there that's adding to the contact."

On one front, at least, Clinton had success: Barak said Israel was canceling the $250 million sale of an advanced airborne radar system to China, as the administration and some members of Congress had sought, citing security concerns.

Israeli spokesman Gadi Baltiansky said the decision was intended to improve prospects for summit success.

Israel, he said, needed to preserve its "intimate relations" with the United States.

Despite the news blackout at Camp David, outside the Maryland mountain retreat representatives from both camps were speaking freely.

Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi said Wednesday on CNN that Israel was ignoring the plight of Palestinian refugees.

"Shirking responsibility is not a good way to start (the summit)," she said.